Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Red Sox season is Finished

The Red Sox season ended on Sunday and in my mind, the baseball season is over. This happens every year to me, once the Sox lose I couldn’t care less who wins the World Series.

The Sox had a great year, and if they had been healthy the last month of the season maybe things would have ended differently. However, the Rays played well, and deserve to be in the World Series. David Price is the real deal. Joe Maddon used him perfectly as his ace in the hole in Game 7. Price is a hard thrower the Sox saw ONCE all year in Game Two. They didn’t have a chance against the left-handed stud.

This year the Sox saw some young stars shine, with Lester’s No-hitter, Pedroia’s MVP candidate year, and Jed Lowrie with multiple walk-off hits during a pennant race. The future looks bright for these young players. The Sox also saw some stars fade, Varitek batting around .200 and Timlin and Wakefield throwing batting practice pitches in ACTUAL playoff games.

Next year, the AL East will have 3 teams win 90 games and the other two will be over 75 wins. Everyone is ready to spend and the Rays seem to always have young talent ready to go. I read that a scout said the Rays have 10 guys, I repeat 10 GUYS, who could pitch in a major league rotation next year. That is two full 5 man rotations. Unbelievable.

Look forward to the off-season the Red Sox are solid in every facet of the game; starting pitching, bullpen, hitting, and defense. GM Theo Epstein, should improve in some of these areas to ensure the Red Sox are still a contender next year in the ultra-competitive AL East.

I heard D-Lowe is interested in returning to Boston. I think the Red Sox would welcome him with open arms, unless the Yankees over pay for him. Also, I love Mark Teixeira. Unfortunately, the Sox have no where to put the All-Star 1st Baseman. Mike Lowell has limited trade value because of his hip, his age, and his contract. It seems unlikely the Sox would trade him, but stranger things have happened. They should trade Julio Lugo for an infield rake and 3 baseballs. I would sign Varitek if the price is low and no more than 2 years. Unlike the Yankees, the Sox are lucky V-Tek was awful this year, unlike Posada last year. V-Tek will have limited options, as a 36 year old catcher who batted .220 this year and did squadouce in the playoffs. I hope Jason will see reason and sign a 2 year deal to help the Sox transition someone to the everyday catcher, similar to what Girardi did with Posada in the late '90s.

Like Dan I am already looking forward to next year. I can’t wait to see Lars Anderson and Michael Bowden, the continued development of Justin Masterson, and the renaissance of Clay Buchholz.

1 comment:

You're right, Lugo is useless (not to mention, a wife beater). I would rather see Alex Cora play short everyday. I know the Sox have no where to put Teixeira, but I'd rather have too many bats than too few. If they signed him it would all work out because Lowell will miss 20 games. Drew will miss 20-30 games. Papi will likely miss time. In the end, it would probably be better for them to spend that money on pitching though.